In a display cabinet on the upper level of the MCG sits a electric pink outfit performed in by the entertainer. His concert in front of a hundred thousand spectators was considered a success.
It's possible you enjoy Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, conceding that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that entertainment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create literature or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon the environment.
The weather, the time of day, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the wicket.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the great game dismantled and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the investment committed elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Some factors are embraced more freely than others.
The contention in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – reading the situation and adapting appropriately. The best individual scores were made by recognized stars. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the devotees who have suffered a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the MCG, countless fans waved their flags and chanted, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the fielding side dominated, momentum when the top order fought back, and pure joy when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. Previously, a game there featured a pitch with the character of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with few wickets and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet value can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the demise of Test cricket at all," said a veteran. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. A unique show."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players responded for him, reinstating the smile to his face.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term success, but a foundation to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this MCG win is added to other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd departed into a beautiful night, the players gathered on the field to commence their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
